


Lacuna

by Razia



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 20:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2885705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razia/pseuds/Razia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One by one they go, the pain they leave behind sharp as a knife. But the last one is the most painful of all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lacuna

**Author's Note:**

> [Lacuna](http://other-wordly.tumblr.com/post/16305103613/lacuna): (n.) a blank space, a missing part.
> 
> For [perfect_key](http://perfect-key.livejournal.com/) at Livejournal.

The first one is Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo, with his big eyes and fluffy ears, cutest thing ever. Kyungsoo, who likes to munch on the carrots Yixing buys from the family of pandas down the road.

It happens quite simply. One day Yixing comes home and Kyungsoo is not there, at the kitchen table, his favorite place. Yixing wouldn't think twice of it if it weren't for Jongin brooding in a corner of the living room.

The next day Kyungsoo is still nowhere to be found, so Yixing gives the carrots to Minseok.

There's a little crack on the wall behind the couch, but Yixing doesn't notice it.

 

The second is Jongin, which is not a surprise at all, considering he and Kyungsoo were attached at the hip.

Yixing is just getting off of the giant eagle that brought him home when he notices a collar lying on the ground. It's black and silver, still new because Yixing bought it two weeks ago. He thought it matched Jongin's dark gray fur.

He frowns, because he remembers Jongin jumping up and down when he saw his new item. It's strange that he would be so careless with it. Yixing thanks the eagle for the ride and grabs the collar from the ground.

When he steps inside his house, the living room is empty except for Wufan, who's perched on top of the bookcase and looking at him. Wufan seems solemn, like he knows something's wrong.

“Jongin?” Yixing asks, a little afraid of the answer.

Wufan shakes his head.

Yixing stands there for a while, but soon he convinces himself it was for the best. Jongin would have been miserable without Kyungsoo.

Yixing throws the collar in the trash.

 

The next day is Saturday, so Yixing plans on spending all afternoon watching old cartoons on TV.

He wakes up with a smile on his face, until he remembers they're two members short. It promptly puts a damp on his mood, but he decides he'll enjoy his weekend one way or another. He showers while thinking of what to do for breakfast.

When Yixing gets out of his room, he almost stumbles on something, apparently, invisible. It turns out it's just Chanyeol, who ended up falling asleep outside his door again. Yixing picks him up carefully and brings him inside his bedroom.

He lays Chanyeol down on his desk, right beside the aquarium. Jongdae waves at him and Baekhyun smiles in thanks.

Eyes alert so he won't stumble upon anyone else, Yixing makes his way to the kitchen, stopping by the living room to pet Luhan, who's lazying on the couch's armrest. Yixing frowns when he notices a noticeable crack on the wall behind the couch, and makes a mental note to call his landlord.

In the kitchen, he makes breakfast and waits for Joonmyun to appear on the window, hooting and flapping his white wings in greeting, so Yixing can give him a piece of plum.

Joonmyun never shows up.

 

Sunday finds Yixing lying on his bed till lunch, wrapped around Wufan, using him as a blanket. He doesn't want to get up, but his stomach rumbles angrily at him, so he sighs and gets out of bed, taking care not to wake his companion.

His eyes immediately go to the trio sleeping peacefully on top of his desk, and he sighs in relief when he counts three. Showering quickly, Yixing makes his way to the living room, where he eyes Luhan playing with Sehun on the carpet.

Yixing remembers the first time he saw that. He though Luhan was going to eat Sehun, and in a panic he had shoved Luhan away and kept Sehun inside his bedroom for a whole day. When he got home, he found Luhan sleeping on his bed with Sehun carefully cradled in his paws. It's still a wonder for Yixing how Luhan manages not to hurt Sehun's wings, because they're so delicate even Yixing is afraid of touching them.

But Luhan is careful, so careful it's cute. It makes Yixing smile.

But his smile disappears when he remembers he won't have his usual winged companion for breakfast. Mood ruined, Yixing forgoes breakfast and decides to spend some time in his backyard, which he's been neglecting for a few days now.

Tao is lying on the grass near the door, soaking up the sun. Yixing rubs his belly, nails scraping Tao's scales lightly, and Tao squirms for a moment before wrapping himself around Yixing's arm.

Yixing lies down on the grass so he and Tao can warm up, the cold autumn wind leaving Yixing's cheeks pink. They lie in silence for a while before Tao moves, wrapping his tail around something to Yixing's right.

He looks to the side to find Minseok clutched carefully by Tao, munching on a nut.

Yixing does a mental count and sighs in relief. No one's missing today.

 

Monday wakes up sunny and chirpy, making Yixing smile.

He prepares breakfast absently minded while thinking of the route he'll make to get to work today. He could probably get a ride with the whale down by the river, but then he would have to leave early.

Baekhyun is singing in the background, voice muffled by the water, but Yixing recognizes the song and hums along, setting aside some nuts for Minseok, when he shows up.

He's getting out of the house when Wufan curls around his legs, tail swinging back and fort in agitation.

“Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it.” Yixing assures him, disentangling himself from Wufan. Wufan just looks at him with his deep brown eyes, and Yixing resists the urge to crouch down and hug him.

“Take care of everyone while I'm out.” But before Yixing leaves, he eyes the wall behind the couch and frowns worriedly at the big crack.

He's out before he can let himself worry too much.

When he comes back, Wufan is sitting on the couch. Tao, Luhan and Sehun are curled on the carpet. Yixing doesn't need to look to know that Chanyeol is with Baekhyun and Jongdae, which leaves only one of them unaccounted for.

Yixing takes a look at Tao's face and he doesn't have to wonder.

Minseok is gone.

 

Yixing wakes up the next day surrounded by the remaining members of the household. Wufan is curled around one of his legs and Tao around the other. Luhan is snuggling his pillow while Sehun rests on Luhan's head.

Even the aquarium is pushed the closest it will come to the bed, with Chanyeol wrapped around it and deeply asleep. Jongdae is the only one awake, and he flaps his fins at Yixing before settling down near a small rock. Baekhyun is resting on the glass, beside Chanyeol's head.

Yixing doesn't feel like getting up today.

He thinks that if he stays home the whole day, he can keep an eye on everyone. No one is going to disappear under his nose again.

Yixing stays up for a few hours, eyes glued to the ceiling while he contemplates the last odd, sad days. Wufan stirs against his legs, but falls asleep again before Yixing can say _good morning_.

He goes back to sleep around noon.

When he wakes up again, Jongdae is gone. Yixing wants to break something.

 

The next week passes in a blur of worry and supressed tears, because Yixing refuses to cry in front of the others. He doesn't want to alarm them.

The crack on the wall gets bigger and bigger, and by the time Saturday comes again, it's almost reaching the ceiling. Yixing can't get a hold of his landlord, and he hasn't gone to work all week. His yeti neighbor came once to ask him if everything was alright, but aside from that Yixing hasn't had any contact with the world outside.

The only good thing in this whole week is that no one has gone missing. Yet.

Yixing is sprawled on the couch with the TV on, but he's only half watching. The other half of his attention is on Chanyeol, who's trying to touch Baekhyun. Again.

Yixing sighs, remembering the first time Chanyeol touched Baekhyun. The burns took almost a month to heal, and Baekhyun felt so guilty he hid in the little fake castle inside the aquarium for a whole day. Yixing scolded Chanyeol and tried to coax Baekhyun out from his hiding place, telling him it wasn't his fault Chanyeol was so damn curious.

“Chanyeol, stop bothering Baekhyun. Do you want to get burned again?” Yixing asks, voice stern.

Chanyeol looks guiltily at him for a moment before settling down, one of his eyes on Baekhyun and the other on Yixing.

Yixing raises his eyebrows in warning and turns back to the TV. Five minutes later he looks back to make sure Chanyeol is behaving. But Chanyeol isn't there.

Baekhyun isn't there, either.

Yixing sits still, shocked for a whole minute before bolting up. He looks around, eyeing crevices and little corners and the stack of colorful magazines Chanyeol likes to hide in, but nothing. He runs to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the bedroom.

Still, nothing.

“If this is a prank, it's not funny!” He shouts, attracting Wufan's attention, who was sleeping in Yixing's bed.

Yixing spends the next twenty minutes tearing down the house. But he never finds Chanyeol and Baekhyun. When his eyes land on the empty aquarium, it takes only a few steps to grab it and smash it against the floor.

He doesn't realize it, but the crack on the wall is halfway on the ceiling already.

 

The next day comes slow because Yixing doesn't sleep that night, despite Wufan's pleas for him to sleep.

In a fit of panic - and perhaps the start of madness – Yixing locks Wufan, Tao, Luhan and Sehun inside the pantry for the whole day. He leaves food, water and a warning for them to not get out of there at all.

At the end of the day, Yixing lets them out. All four of them. He sighs, relieved, but there's still a deep fear inside his chest. Something is wrong, and he can't seem to put his fingers on it.

They all sleep together on Yixing's bed that night.

 

When Yixing wakes up, Tao is gone.

 

Sehun and Luhan are gone the next day, while Yixing takes a shower for the first time in four days.

 

Yixing curls up with Wufan on his bed and cries. The sadness that's been settling finally takes its toll and he sobs desperately, clinging to Wufan so tightly he fears he might be choking him.

But Wufan doesn't complain. He only wraps his wings tighter around Yixing, scales smooth and warm and comforting. It takes some minutes for Yixing to calm down, and eventually he feels sleepy, but Yixing doesn't want to sleep.

He doesn't want to wake up to an empty house.

 

But Yixing is only human, and he can't stay awake forever.

 

Yixing wakes up and stretches, groaning as his muscles complain. He frowns, because he doesn't remember doing anything to make him sore. He must have slept wrong.

His stomach grumbles, so he forgoes shower in favor of breakfast.

He gets up and there's a sudden, sharp pain in his head, like he hit it somehow, but a closer inspection with his hand tells him there's nothing there. No bump, no blood, no wound. He scowls, irritated with his unexplainable physical state.

Ignoring the pain, that starts to fade away as soon as he's out of the bedroom, Yixing makes his way to the kitchen. He stops when he realizes there's a giant crack from wall to ceiling to wall in the living room.

He doesn't remember that being there yesterday. He will call his landlord as soon as he can.

In the kitchen, Yixing fixes himself a quick breakfast. He doesn't waste time doing the dishes, simply puts on some acceptable clothing, grabs his suitcase and is out the door for the day.

When he closes the door behind him, there's a definite _crack_ that resounds inside the empty house.

 

_“What–”_

_“Do you have any idea when he'll–”_

_“His condition is stable for n–”_

_“Progressive loss of mem–”_

_“Oh my g–”_

_“Horrible accide–”_

_“Poor b–”_

 

He opens his eyes to a white room, wincing at the artificial light. It's a hospital room, complete with a sterile smell and annoying beeping machines. He tries to move, but his body feels sore and heavy and something really hurts. There's a cast on his left arm that prevents him from stretching, so he sighs, annoyed.

He looks around and finds a lot of potted flowers spread around the room, some with colorful balloons and others with little cards.

Beside the bed there's a glass of water, and it's clear someone's been drinking from it. He frowns, trying to remember who would be at his bedside.

And that's when he realizes he doesn't remember his name.

In a mild panic, he darts his eyes around the room again, trying to find anything that might be familiar. But nothing sparks even a remote memory. The panic grows and he wants to get up, get out, but then a figure appears in the doorway.

“Yixing? Is everything alright?” The man asks. He – Yixing? – takes his time to stare.

The man is tall, _very_ tall, with a mop of dyed blond hair and a handsome face. He's in simple jeans and t-shirt, showing off a slim body.

“What's wrong? Did you not sleep well?” The man asks with a worried frown, entering the room and settling on the chair beside his bed.

Yixing – is that his name? – doesn't know how to answer, so he stays quiet. But his apprehension must have show on his face, because the man beside him looks closely at his face and sighs, something like understanding crossing his features before he smooths it over.

“You don't remember anything, do you?” It should be a question, but it's almost an affirmation. Yixing shakes his head anyway.

“Not even me?” The man jokes with a small smile, but Yixing can see the tightness around his eyes when he shakes his head again. For a second, a split second, anguish crawls over the man's face. It looks like it takes a lot of willpower to hide it this time.

But Yixing saw it, and for some reason it makes his heart ache.

“It's okay, no need to look like that. The doctor said this was going to happen sooner or later. You've been in and out of consciousness for a few days now, and each time you woke you forgot more and more.” The man's voice chokes a little as he explains, but his face remains impassive.

It's quite impressive and Yixing would have thought the guy has no emotions, if he hadn't seen that split second of vulnerability.

“...I'm sorry.” Yixing whispers, feeling somehow guilty.

“No, don't be. It's not your fault. So, let me begin at the beginning, because this is gonna be long.... hi, my name is Wufan.”

Yixing breathes deeply because this is going to be painful, but he's glad he's not alone to do it.

“Hi, Wufan. I guess... my name is Yixing?” He answers hesitantly.

The full smile Wufan gives him is quite beautiful.


End file.
